This invention is in the field of pipelines and in the use of spheres to separate batches of liquid in the pipeline.
More particularly it is concerned with devices for launching spheres into the pipeline and for receiving spheres from the pipelines.
Still more particularly it is concerned with means for improving the seal between the rotating plugging element of the device and the seal rings within the housing.
Many devices have been proposed in the prior art for launching and receiving spheres in a pipeline. Most of these utilize a plug type valve arrangement in which the plug can be rotated to close off the pipeline or to provide a passage from the pipeline into the plug and through the plug in a direction transverse to the pipeline to a catching tube or the like. All of such prior art devices are weak in the matter of the sealing between the housing and the surface of the plug.